I Need You
by InkJoy
Summary: AU. Something that happens between Rory and Tristan might change their friendship forever.
1. Reunion

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I Need You

A/N: I know…I've been throwing a lot of stories out, without seemingly paying attention to the other ones I've already put out… I guess it's a bad habit I'm starting to form. I still have a whole bunch of ideas for fics, so this habit won't be stopping anytime soon, but not to worry, I plan on updating all my fics sooner or later, so… Anyway, I already have the main events of this whole story planned out, it's just a matter of writing all the chapters. Rory did leave for Washington during the summer (Sophomore year, right?), and Tristan did break into that safe, but instead of being sent to military school, his parents just sent him to live with his grandfather. Rory and Tristan are only friends at this point, all the stuff at Chilton happened (him calling her 'Mary', the P.J. Harvey thing, and so on), but they became friends. I'll work that in later, too. I might work Jess into the story somehow in later chapters, but don't worry, this fic will definitely be a TRORY. Lorelai is pregnant with Chris' child (sorry JavaJunkie fans!!), so there is no Sherry. They remarried a couple days before Rory left for Washington, think a day or two after Sookie's and Jackson's wedding. Chris currently has a house in Hartford, but Lorelai still has the house in Stars Hollow (they switch which house they stay at from time to time). And I think that's it concerning background information… Anyway, here is the first chapter, review after you're done!

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Chapter 1: Reunion

Rory Gilmore took a step off of the airplane, automatically searching for the head of blonde hair among the crowd.

"Rory!" She looks behind her, her eyes landing on a boy her age as well as an aged man, whom she knew was his grandfather.

"Tristan!" She ran up to him, giving him a tight hug, a result of being away from her best friend for so long.

"Hey, don't I get a kiss?" he asked as she pulled away.

She looked at him a moment before standing up on her toes, giving him a kiss on his nose. "Hey! No fair! I was thinking a kiss on my lips!" he whined playfully like a little kid. 

"Well, at least your nose is happy!" She gave him a wink before turning and walking to where his grandfather was standing. He chuckled lightly to himself before catching up to them.

"So, how was Washington, Rory?" 

"It was good. I liked it." 

"Well, Tristan here has not been able to stop talking about you ever since you left."

"Really…?" she questions while eyeing Tristan playfully. 

"So, do you think that you two will be getting together anytime soon?" 

"Grandfather!" 

"Relax boy, I'm just trying to figure out the girl's interest in you." 

Rory chuckled slightly at the pair. She loved how they were around each other. "No, I don't think so. We're just friends, besides," Rory brought her hand up to mess up his hair, "I've seen too many of his faults already." She laughed as he glared at her jokingly. "Anyway, thank you for coming to pick me up."

"Not a problem, my dear." Janlan (I don't really know the name of Tristan's grandfather, so I'm just going to use the name I've seen other writers use in their fics) replied, while pulling Rory into a hug. "What is your mother up to anyway?" he asked as they began to make their way out of the airport.

"She's just been really busy at the Inn. She would have found someway to pick me up anyhow, but she's in the 'mood swing' stage of the pregnancy, so I didn't want to whine to her." 

"That's right, she's pregnant! It slipped my mind! How is she doing?"

"She's as funny as ever…when she is in a good mood, that is. When I was talking to her on the phone the last day I was in Washington, she kept on whining about the fact that she couldn't reach her toes and how she felt completely fat."

"Well, how is that funny?" Tristan questioned, joining the conversation.

"It's funny because she is only two months pregnant (I don't know if I have the time frame right, so just pretend I'm right, or correct me). She is hardly showing and she can still reach her feet perfectly fine."

"Then why is she complaining?" 

Rory inwardly laughed at how Janlan was still unaware of her mom's personality. "She just likes to overdo everything, embellish stuff so that she'll have something to laugh about later." 

A knowing nod was all that she got from Janlan. "I remember Tristan's grandmother act the same way when she was pregnant; although, she wasn't quite as…creative as your mother."

The three settled into a comfortable silence as they drove to Stars Hollow.


	2. Friendship

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I Need You

A/N: This is pretty much a filler chapter, not that much happens; just a little TRORY-ness towards the end. And this chapter kind of sucks, too; maybe I'm just having one of those days where I can't write well…

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Chapter 2: Friendship

"Daughter of mine!!"

"Mom!" Rory ran over to her mom, hugging her with all of her night, well, at least as much as she could without pressing into Lorelai's stomach.

"How was Washington?"

"It was great! I had the best time!" Rory exclaimed, hugging her mom once more.

"I see you brought those handsome men with you," she said loudly, purposely drawing them into the conversation.

"Oh. Lorelai, you certainly know how to compliment a gentleman." Lorelai softly chuckled at Janlan. She loved how high-spirited he was.

"Well, I try my hardest." She gave Rory a wink, while Rory just playfully rolled her eyes. "And you…" Lorelai turned her attention to Tristan, "…you did not visit me at all during the summer."

He smirked. "Well, Rory wasn't here, so I had no reason whatsoever to come."

Lorelai gasped, playing along. "Evil child! I shall never talk to you again!" She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning towards him.

"Oh, come on…no need to frown…you know you're my number one girl…well, besides Rory." He turned to Rory, winking at her, causing her to blush.

Lorelai playfully punched him on the arm. "I was lonely…" she frowned again.

"Okay, I'll visit more from now on."

"You're only saying that because Rory is here now."

"No…" Lorelai rose her eyebrows curiously at him. "Okay, yeah." Tristan looked back at Rory, who was now looking at him curiously. "What…I can't be exited to see a friend?" he asked innocently.

She said nothing, just continuing to look at his odd behavior.

***

__

~ 2 weeks have passed, effectively going to the first day at Chilton (their junior year).

It felt good to be back. But, of course, that also meant the heavy work load and annoying and stuck-up classmates were back in her life again, but she didn't care. It was something that took up her time.

She turned the corner, seeing Tristan standing in front of a window. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she came up from behind him, placing her arms around his waist. "What's wrong?" 

He relaxed once he figured out it was her. "Nothing." 

"Then how come I don't believe you?" she asked while resting her head between his shoulder blades. 

"I'm just having a shitty day." He looked down at her hands, placing his over hers, rubbing soft circles on her skin. 

"Oh. Is there anything I can do?" Her voice showed concern. 

He turned around in her embrace, bringing his arms around her too. He sighed deeply. "No. I just can't wait to get home and sleep." 

She smiled up at him, bringing her hand up to run it through his hair. She paused a moment, resting her hand on the back of his neck, peering into his eyes. "Come on, we should get back to class." 

"Alright." They walked hand-in-hand with each other to their English class, Tristan smiling slightly at the moment they just had.


	3. Rain does Tend to get People Wet

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Chapter 3: Rain does Tend to get People Wet

"Come on!" 

"Come where? Rory, it's raining." 

"I know." 

"Then what are you doing going out in it?" 

"Stop your whining, DuGrey. We are going to go play out in the rain and we are going to enjoy it." 

"But I don't wanna!" 

"Okay, now you're just whining to get on my nerves." 

"I don't know what you're talking about." 

"Oh, please. I can see that smirk on your face. Come on." She dragged him out of the car, pulling him towards the middle of the park. 

"I'm all wet now." 

"Well, that's what rain does, silly." 

"So this was your bright idea in cheering me up? To come out in the rain and get wet and cold?" She just remained silent. "Okay, Rory, this isn't funny anymore. We might get sick." 

"Alright, but just a couple more minutes. And don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to get you home so you can have your precious sleep." She rose her arms out from her side, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath. "Don't you like the smell of rain? There is also a sense of peacefulness, too." She rose her head up towards the sky and started to spin around, breathing in deeply. When she stopped, she noticed Tristan staring at her. "What?" she asked, bringing her arms back down to her sides. 

"You." 

"What about me?" 

"You're just…amazing…" 

She looked at him for a few seconds before walking over to him. "Well, you're pretty amazing also," she said while pulling him into a hug. "Now, come on, we should get going." She pulled away from him and headed back to the car. He stared at her retreating back while a frown found its way to his features.

***

"See, it's only four. You can take a nap now, if you so well please, or you can do all of your homework then go to bed early." Rory opened the door to Tristan's house and started to walk up the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going, missy?" he called after her, amusement in his voice.

"Up to your room. And what is up with the 'missy' part?"

He merely shrugged, while strolling up to her. "You know…" She groaned out loud, knowing what he was going to say. "If you wanted to come up to my bedroom with me, all you had to do was ask." He smirked, accomplishment showing in his eyes.

"You need to get some new material, DuGrey," she said. He began to frown slightly, but she didn't notice. She continued on her way to his room. "I mean, you say that or something very close to it every time I mention going to your room." 

His smirk reappeared. "Does that mean I'm wearing you down?"

She rolled her eyes. "How did you get that from what I just said?"

"I know all about your hidden meanings."

She turned to look at him, confusion spread throughout her eyes. "What?"

He chuckled. "Nothing. I didn't even understand what I said."

She laughed, grabbing the front of his shirt, pulling him towards his room.


	4. Embarrassing Tales and a Pillow Fight

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I Need You

A/N: I know hat this chapter is short and really has nothing going on in it, but I wanted to put something out. I'll probably have the next chapter out in a couple days and I promise that something will actually happen in it. Please review, thanks!

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Chapter 4: Embarrassing Tales and a Pillow Fight

"Daughter of mine, I'm home!" Lorelai walked into the living room, seeing that the two teenagers were sitting on the couch, recovering from laughing about something. "What are you laughing about?"

Tristan turned to look at her. "Rory just told me an interesting story where you dressed up as a man to try to fool your parents into thinking you were someone else." Both teens started to laugh again.

Lorelai gasped dramatically. "Evil child! How could you tell him something like that?"

"I'm sorry, mom, but we were bored and that was just so hilarious.

"Oh… You want to play it that way with me? Alright… Tristan," she turned her gaze over to Tristan, "would you like to hear something _interesting_ about Rory?"

Rory stopped laughing immediately and her eyes widened. "Mom," she threatened, "you wouldn't dare."

Lorelai ignored her and started. "Well, Tristan, when Rory was four or five, we had a bunch of friends over and she was taking a bath-" 

"Mom…" 

"-but after she was done, she failed to put on clothes, so she-" 

"Mom…" 

"-ran out into the living room totally naked-" 

"Oh my God!" she whispered to herself, bringing her hand up to her forehead as a failed attempt to shield herself from the laughter-filled eyes. 

"-and she was so cute, too, telling everyone to poke her belly button!" Lorelai went over to her now fuming daughter, pinching her cheek. "Yes…my totally cute daughter." 

"I'm going to literally cry now." Rory glared at her mother for telling such an embarrassing tale. 

"Aw…you still love me." 

"Not anymore, I don't." She turned to Tristan. "Don't even think about breathing one word of this to anyone."

He tried to suppress his laughter. "Too late. I've already thought of about 50 people who would love to hear-" His words stopped as soon as a pillow hit his face. "That's it, Gilmore. You asked for it." He grabbed a pillow and soon, all three were in a full-fledged pillow fight. 


	5. Rory The Human Tomato Gilmore!

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I Need You

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Chapter 5: Rory "The Human Tomato" Gilmore!

"Come on."

"I don't want to go to the country club, Tristan."

"Rory, please…" he whined.

"Rory, you can even drive my car."

"Well, as much fun as that sounds," she started sarcastically, "I don't know how to drive stick and that's what your car is."

"Oh, well," he started, smirk growing on his face, "_I_ can teach you how to drive a stick."

She groaned. "Why am I friends with you?" She playfully shoved him away from her, only to have him take her into his arms again.

"Because you love me." His voice was so serious and calm that she didn't know if he was being serious or not. Before she could say anything, Lorelai came in screaming something about getting coffee and how evil Michel is. The two teens followed silently to the diner.

***

"I don't get it, Rory - how do you put up with him?" Lorelai asked with a playful tone in her voice. 

"I don't know…but lately I've been getting sick of him." She smiled up at him, letting him know that she was only joking. "I was thinking about selling him. What do you think, mom - could I sell him?" 

"Well," Lorelai started, circling him and inspecting him as if he were actually up for sale, "maybe for a pretty nickel." 

"Hey!" he protested. He then turned to Rory. "I'm worth more than that…right?" he pouted playfully. 

"Oh, yes, definitely. I'd say you're worth a pretty _dime_," she smirked at him while taking her hand up to his hair and rubbing it playfully. 

"Gee, thanks," he said sarcastically. 

"Oh, baby…" she put on her best 'sorry' face, "I'm sorry…I'd pay a dollar for you…if that makes you feel any better." 

He smiled at that. "A lot." She smiled sweetly back at him. 

"Okay, kiddos, how about we watch _Willy Wonka_? Never mind - I don't even know why I'm asking you - of course we're going to watch _Willy Wonka_; it's only the best movie ever!" Tristan and Rory, while laughing, followed Lorelai into the living room, taking a seat on the couch next to each other as Lorelai started the movie.

***

After the movie, Lorelai had gone upstairs to take a shower, while Rory and Tristan stayed downstairs, lying down on the floor. 

"I should probably head home," he said while sitting up.

"Okay." She sat up too.

"So…"

"So…" she mimicked him.

"Are you going to come to the country club tomorrow night?"

She groaned. "I don't know…"

"Please…?" He pouted, something he knew she could never turn down.

"Fine," she finally gave in..

He smiled hugely. "Great. I promise that you'll have fun."

She narrowed her eyes playfully. "I'm going to hold you to that promise."

He chuckled. "Alright." They walked to the door and he awkwardly turned around to face her after he opened the door. "So…I'll see you tomorrow?"

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at his sudden nervousness. "Sure…" He chuckled tensely and pulled her into a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" He ran a hand through his hair then tucked a few strands of her hair behind her ear.

"I don't know," she replied leaning into his touch.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?"

She smiled. "You already asked that."

He smiled as well. "I guess I did. Bye."

She leaned up and gave him a kiss on the corner of his mouth. "Bye."

He stood there shocked for a few moments before moving out the door and heading to his car. She watched him drive away before shutting the door silently, then slouched down against it. "Oh, God…" she whimpered, bringing her hands up to her face.

"'Oh, God', what?" Lorelai's voice asked from the kitchen.

"I kissed him." Her response was slightly murmured due to her position.

"Wait, I'm sorry…" Lorelai came to the front door where Rory was and sat down in front of her, "…did you just say that you kissed Tristan? Like on the lips?"

"No…yes…kind of. I kissed the corner of his mouth."

"Huh," was Lorelai's only response.

"'Huh'? What's 'huh'?"

A smile broke out on Lorelai's face. "I knew you loved him!"

"Mom!" Rory quickly got up and headed toward her room. "I do NOT love him!"

"Ha! You are so dead set against it! If you weren't, then you wouldn't be all defensive and turning red!"

"I'm not being defensive and I'm not turning red!" But true to Lorelai's word, she was as red as she'd ever been.

"I think I shall change your name to 'Tomato' now!"

"Mom!"

"Or 'Cherry'!"

"Stop, mom!"

"Don't worry, sweetie, I'll come up with a good name."

"Bye, mom," she said through closed teeth, while proceeding to slam her bedroom door. She leaned against the door as she heard Lorelai singing "My red-faced daughter loves Tristan!" on her way up to her room. She banged the back of her head against the door a couple times before closing her eyes. "What am I going to do?" she whispered to herself.


	6. Confused, Sad

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I Need You

A/N: Sorry if this chapter sucks…it seemed good to me when I had written it, but now, I don't like it so much, but I decided to post it up anyway. Maybe if I can come up with a better chapter, I'll replace it with this one. I don't know; tell me what you think. Thank you to all of you who have reviewed so far.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of the characters that you recognize.

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Chapter 7: Confused…Sad…

Rory walked into the country club around 7:30 in the evening, looking around for the familiar blond headed boy. After a few minutes of searching, she stopped, standing still in place from across the room, staring at Tristan with a red-headed girl. He was smiling, laughing at something the girl had said. She smiled sadly and started to walk away.

Tristan looked up from the girl he was talking to, Madison, she said her name was, and saw Rory walking away. He quickly excused himself and ran towards her. "Rory, where are you going? I thought we were supposed to hang out today."

She kept her eyes forward. "You looked busy," was all she said.

He glanced over at her for a couple seconds. "We were just talking." He saw something in her eyes, jealousy it seemed.

She shrugged, still not looking at him. "Okay."

He grabbed her arm gently, turning her around to look at him. "Hey…"

"You know," she started while pulling her arm from his grasp, still avoiding his eyes, "I forgot that I have something to do with my grandparents now; they're probably waiting at home for me this very minute, wondering where I am, so I have to leave." She gave him a faint smile before walking away.

He stared at her disappearing figure before a familiar voice broke his reverie.

"Tristan! It's so good to see you! Have you seen Rory anywhere? Her grandfather and I haven't seen her since last week's dinner and we were hoping to see her here."

"No, I haven't seen her, Mrs. Gilmore." Emily smiled at him before saying goodbye and leaving him alone. Now he was confused as to why Rory told him that she was supposed to see her grandparents when they were here at the club.

***

Rory was confused, to say the least. She didn't even know why her seeing Tristan talking to a girl mad her mad all of a sudden; it's not like she hasn't seen him flirt before. But, nonetheless, she got…sad. And she had yet to figure out why.

***

She went out back, finding a secluded spot where she could just think. She walked for a few minutes before lying down, the grass instantly cooling her skin. She stared up at the sky, noticing how bright the stars were. She took in a few deep breaths before a familiar voice broke her thoughts. 

"I thought you said you had to go to your grandparents."

She shut her eyes, not wanting to deal with telling why she had lied to Tristan; she didn't even really know why she was so upset, why she thought she had to distance herself from him right at that moment she saw him with that girl. "They weren't home, so I came back."

He sat down next to her. "Why did you lie to me?"

She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him, trying to look confused at his question. "What do you mean?"

"Your grandparents - they were here, not at home. And your grandmother didn't say that you had any plans with her or your grandfather. She said that she hadn't even seen you since last week."

"So you're checking around now to see if what I tell you is actually true?" She sat up and stared disbelievingly at him. She was starting to get mad.

"What? No, Rory, she just came up to me and started talking right after you left."

She glared at him, not even hearing what he had said. "I can't believe you don't trust me."

"What - Rory how did this conversation go to you saying that I don't trust you?"

"You don't, do you?" she asked, tears filling her eyes.

"Rory-" He was genuinely confused now. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't believe this." She shook her head and got up, running away from Tristan. He sat there for the longest time, trying to decipher why she acted the way she did just now, when yesterday, they seemed perfectly fine…


	7. If Only We Could All Fly Away

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I Need You

A/N: Okay, I have a meteor shower happening in this chapter. I seriously doubt that you could see such a sight in Connecticut or not, but for my fic, you can. Sorry if I'm wrong, but keep in mind that I did warn you.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls.

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Chapter 7: If Only We Could All Fly Away

He came up to her a couple days later. It was night, relatively dark around except for the headlights that came from cars that carried the people who wanted to see the meteor shower as well. He waited for a few minutes, hoping that she would be the one to start talking, but she didn't; she remained quiet and still. "Rory, about what happened-"

"Do you ever wonder what it would feel like to fly?" she asked, not taking her gaze away from the sky.

He sighed, knowing that this was her way of avoiding talking to him about the subject at hand. "Like on a plane?" he asked, reluctantly playing along.

She shook her head. "No, like a bird does. Wouldn't it feel great to be able to fly away whenever you wanted to?"

He sighed again. "I guess so." He paused. "Rory, we have to talk about-" 

"Shh," she interrupted, "the shower's starting."

Both stayed quiet as the streaks of light flew across the sky.

***

Somehow Rory had managed to slip from his line of vision after the shower was over. The masses of bodies that were wandering aimlessly around weren't making it that much easier to find her either. He ran a hand through his hair, almost giving up. He hung his head down slightly, not wanting to leave without talking to his best friend, but it seemed so useless. He made his way out to his car, darkness veiling everything as he headed out farther and farther away from the people that were there. He opened his car door, about to get in when he saw her.

He didn't realize just how beautiful she was earlier. She was wearing a flower-print dress that came down to her knees. He could only think about how cold she must be with the cool wind blowing slightly. She was lying down on the hood of her car, her eyes closed as if she were in deep thought.

He walked slowly, quietly, up to her, not wanting her to run away. He stood there for what seemed like an eternity to him.

"What do you want?" Her voice was strong, not really displaying any kind of emotion she was feeling.

He jumped slightly at her voice. He laughed inwardly; she could always tell when he was near her and that was one of the things that he loved about their relationship. He shrugged, as if she could see him. "I just came to talk to you."

She stayed quiet for a few moments more. "About what?"

"About the other day." He stared at her shut eyes intently, wanting her to open them so he could somehow read what she was feeling.

She finally did open her eyes, but they did not make any movement to stare at him. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I was just confused, mad, I don't know, at something else. I didn't mean to talk to you like I did."

He sat down beside her, lying down and looking up, too. "Can I ask what you were so confused about?"

She smiled slightly, looking over at him in the process. "You can, but I'm not going to answer." 

He nodded his head in understanding. "Fair enough. So…did you like the shower tonight?"

They both smiled widely as they fell back into step with each other.

A/N: The next chapter should be out in a couple of days. Sorry this one was so short.


	8. It doesn't Work that Way

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I Need You

A/N: These next few chapters are going to suck, I'm telling you right now. The only reason I'm continuing on with this fic is because I have the end worked out and I like it. So I apologize greatly if the next three or so chapters seem rushed or are just plain crap. I promise that it'll get better as it starts to wind down. Anyway, thanks for reading, those of you who have. Another thing: In the first chapter, I put that Lorelai is pregnant with Chris's baby. I don't plan on writing that in anymore, unless you all want me to. Then I'll try to, but, unless you want to suffer through having to read all of that, I'm going to leave it out.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

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Chapter 8: It doesn't Work that Way

She knew that she had been acting childish lately - talking about stupid things, like flying, rather than what she and Tristan obviously needed to talk about. She was happy at the thought of her and Tristan being on good terms again, even though it was technically her fault in the first place.

She walked through the hallway, making her way to where his locker was. That's when she froze. She saw him. She saw him kissing _that._ Madison. _'Just talking, my ass,_' she thought. Her legs went numb, all feeling left her body. Immediately, her hand found its way to her mouth, muffling a small gasp. She stared at them in disbelief. She turned and she ran - ran away from him.

{}{}{}{}{}

"Rory?" Silence. "Rory?" he tried again.

A sniffle. "Just leave me alone, Tristan."

He paused. Her voice was soft, so soft and full of pain. "Rory…" His hand came up to her face, gently pushing her hair back behind her ear. She was crying. Her face was pale, her eyes red and tear-filled. "What's wrong?" he asked tenderly. 

She pushed his hand away, slamming her locker shut. "Just leave me alone," she said once more, before walking off.

{}{}{}{}{}

He had been leaning up against his locker now for about a half an hour; he just couldn't figure out what was wrong with Rory. He stared intently down at the floor, not really noticing the slight glare from the lights overhead or the soft poundings of footsteps.

"That was some show you put on."

He glanced up, seeing Paris. "What are you talking about?" He didn't really show interest and wasn't all that intent on absorbing anything that would be said by her.

"You and Madison. In the hallway." Her voice was indifferent, a surprising tone which Tristan had never heard from her.

"What?" he asked confused.

"The little, well, not really little 'cause it seemed like your lips were melded together, but still, all the same, make-out session you had in the hallway." Her unaffected pitch stayed the same.

"Oh." He looked down at the ground then back up at her. "No one was supposed to see that."

She rose her eyebrows at that. "Tristan, you two were in a hallway, so unless you somehow know of one that makes people invisible once they are inside, I'm guessing that a lot of people saw you.

"Oh," he mumbled again. _Where was she with that logic an hour ago?_

"Why are you so down?"

He looked down. "No reason."

"Ah…" She nodded her head as if she had everything figured out. "I get it now."

He looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"Rory. She saw you two going at it. That's why you're in your 'I'm depressed, leaning here against my locker, so leave me alone' mood," she stated matter-of-factly.

"She saw that?"

"Yep." A pause. "Okay…well, I got to go. See you later." She began to walk off.

He scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to decide if that was the reason Rory had seemed so upset over. _Was that why she was crying?_ Then he cocked his head to the side and saw Paris' disappearing figure. "I do NOT have moods!" he called out as an afterthought. She merely waved at him without turning around to face him He groaned and sunk back against the lockers once more.

{}{}{}{}{}

He tried the next couple of days to get her to talk to him, but wasn't at all successful. She avoided him, ignored him, and glared at him when she had no escape route from him, but never during any of the occurrences did she speak to him. He finally had it. He missed talking to her and would get her to listen to him, even if it was just a one-sided conversation.

"Rory, please, _please_, just listen to me." She finally stopped speed-walking away from him, after many long minutes of begging on his part, and turned to face him, her face hard and devoid of any real emotion. "I'm sorry," he offered lamely, aware that those words might be the death of him after seeing the glare Rory was giving intensify. "I-I-just-"

"Just what, Tristan?" she asked.

He stared at her for a moment, finally hearing her voice for the first time in three days. "I didn't mean to make you mad."

She scoffed and a look of disbelief came across her face. "You told me that you two were just talking, that you two weren't…like that."

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I didn't think you would see," he explained stupidly.

"You-you didn't think I would see! You were in the freakin' hallway, Tristan!"

He groaned and shut his eyes, remembering his earlier conversation with Paris. "I didn't want you to see," he said quietly.

"Yeah, well, you did a great job of preventing that from happening." She began to walk away, but he grabbed her wrist before she could take another step.

He rubbed his hand over his eyes, just wishing that this whole problem could go away some how. "I just did that to make you jealous."

She rose an eyebrow and her breath became more labored, wanting to contain as much of her anger as she could. "'Make me jealous'?! You thought that you could just go make out with some girl and that I would feel jealous and then run into your arms professing my undying love for you?! It doesn't work like that, Tristan. Why don't you learn to grow up and stop playing with people's emotions like that." She began to walk off, but turned around again. "And just a few words of advice - doing stuff like that will not only make a woman jealous, but it will make her pissed off, probably the latter more. I wouldn't go around kissing random girls, unless you really don't value your life." And with that, she disappeared behind the doors.

He shut his eyes and leaned back against the lockers. It wasn't for another few minutes that what she had said finally sunk into his thoughts. _"You thought that you could just go make out with some girl and that I would feel jealous and then run into your arms professing my undying love for you?! It doesn't work like that, Tristan."_ Jealous…undying love… Tristan ran through the doors that Rory previously used, knowing that she would no longer be there, but needing to see for himself. The cold wind blew across his body as his eyes flitted across the campus, seeing nothing but the trees and few cars in the parking lot. He shut his eyes once more and silently cursed himself for how stupid he had been the last few days.


	9. You just don't Know

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I Need You

A/N: Yeah, I know - totally short chapter, but I'm not up for writing some more, so I guess that this chapter will have to do. Please review and tell me what you think. And, for some good news, I think, I already have the next chapter written, do that will be posted in a day or so.

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Chapter 9: You just don't Know

She didn't want to chance having to speak with him, so she went to class early, knowing that he wouldn't be caught dead coming into class until right before the bell rang, she left right when class was over, and she hid during break and lunch. All her work didn't seem to pay off, though. She would find notes from him in her backpack or her locker and, after many failed attempts of trying to talk to her himself, he started to send people she knew to try to get her to talk to him.

Rory sighed, frustrated, as she turned to her locker, trying to get it open. "If he doesn't want to talk to me, then he's not going to talk to me. I can't force him to."

"Are you kidding, Rory? He has done nothing but try to talk to you for the last few days and all you do is change the subject so that you two can't talk about whatever it is he wants to talk to you about or you avoid him altogether. You're really hurting him." Paris stepped closer to her, trying to clearly get the words she was speaking to reach Rory's ears.

"Oh, so what are you two doing, talking about me when I'm not around?" Rory turned to Paris, not at all trying to hold back the glare she was sending her way.

"Don't try to turn this around on me, Rory. You have to talk to him." She heard Rory sigh and sag her shoulders - a visible sign in her resignation in trying to avoid the subject.

"No, I don't, Paris. Now can you just go and leave me alone? I can't deal with you anymore." Rory sighed again and leaned back next to her open locker.

"So you're just going to stop talking to me? Shut me out of your life like you did to Tristan?"

"Paris, stop. You are so out of line." Rory started to get mad now; people had been coming up to her, telling her what she should be doing with her life; she had never been one to take orders of the sort from other people.

"No, I'm not. You're causing him so much pain. Why can't-"

"You don't think I feel any pain?!" she yelled out, her final shred of restriction torn. "I have to see him flirt with an endless line of girls, kiss them, touch them. You don't know how much I wish I was the girl he wanted, the only one. You have no right saying that he is the only one feeling pain! You don't know what it feels like to have your heart split in two every moment he thinks about another girl or what it feels like to think that he is with another girl right now!" Tears were running down her face as she turned her gaze toward the ground. "You just don't know." She turned from her locker, forgetting about the backpack she had filled all her books with and walked out of the school, sniffling and trying to fight back tears along the way, leaving an awe-struck Paris behind. What neither girl noticed was that Tristan was around the corner, listening to every word spoken.


	10. Drink Away all the Pain

A/N: In this chapter, Rory is at a party on Friday night, as opposed to the usual Friday night dinners that she usually has with her grandparents, so, for the purpose of this story, her grandparents convinced Rory to go with them.

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Chapter 10: Drink Away all the Pain

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Friday afternoon, Chilton hallway

It had been a week since Tristan had heard Rory talking to Paris, but he was reluctant, scared, to try to talk to her. He didn't know that he had made her feel that way, that he had caused her so much pain. It was enough to make him feel a similar twitch in his heart every time he saw her walking down the hallway or sitting in class.

He took in a deep breath and shook his hands as if trying to force some courage into his body. He took small, but confident steps towards Rory's locker, where she stood, staring inside trying to figure out which books she need to take home. "Rory?" He saw her body tense and how she shut her eyes; she didn't say anything, but continued to rifle through her locker, the only thing she found that she could do in the situation. "Rory?" he tried again.

She took in a deep breath then slammed her locker shut, lifting up her backpack and slinging it over her shoulders as she made her way over to the exit.

Tristan followed her outside and stopped her as soon as the were near the bus. "Rory, just please listen to me."

Rory stopped in her steps and looked reluctant to turn around, but did, meeting his sorrow-filled eyes. "Tristan…I can't, okay? Just leave me alone." She turned once again, trying to escape him, but his grasp on her arm only tightened.

"Rory, I'm trying to explain myself, okay? Don't just brush me off as if I'm nothing!"

She glared at him and jerked her arm back. "Don't you dare talk to me like that! And how can you even accuse me of 'brushing you off'? This is why I don't want to talk to you, Tristan! You can be such a jerk!" She stomped off onto the bus, but heard Tristan yell something else. "You're brushing me off now!" She paused on the third step of the bus, but held her head high and continued on her way in. There was no way she was going to let him know that he getting to her.

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Friday evening, socialite party in Hartford

Another party. She hated coming to these, but her grandparents had insisted she had come. "It won't hurt you to expand your social horizons, Rory," her grandmother told her. She smiled and nodded every once in a while, not really caring to get to know anymore stuck-up people. She nearly blew up at them when they came up to her an hour into the party, telling her that they needed to get home for some 'important reason'. She wanted to leave with them, but they just told her that they already asked someone to take her home - Tristan. She nearly winced at the name. Of course it was Tristan. If it wasn't Tristan, then the world would have failed at making her life a complete disaster. She plastered on the nicest smile she could and said goodbye to them.

A half hour later, she walked into a room, which, she didn't know, but it was good enough to hide in from all the 'Ha ha, I'm better than you are' fake smiles. She was about to take a seat when she groaned out loud. "Sorry, I'll leave."

He scoffed, anger oozing out. "You can't even stand to be in the same room as me now?"

She shut her eyes to try to remain composed and let out a deep breath as she moved toward the door.

"And now you're not talking to me. That's real mature, Rory."

She turned around, anger and bitterness etched all over her face. "What the hell do you want from me, Tristan?!"

"You! I want you!" he screamed, not really caring now if she knew all that he felt about her.

"You did have me," she said, her voice snipped, but strong.

"No, I didn't!" he yelled out, softening as he said the next part. "Not all of you."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to be the one you love, the one to tell you 'I love you', the one to hold you…the one to touch you." His voice grew softer with every word he spoke. The silence was slowly killing him and he couldn't take it anymore. He rose his eyes to her, silently willing her to say something to him, anything. But she didn't; she kept her eyes to the ground, almost as if she were afraid to even look at him, disgusted even. He left after shaking his head in disbelief. The sound of the door slamming made her wince and start to cry.

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She was so mad now, mad at Tristan for not understanding that she needed time to think, to process what he told her, and she was mad at herself for not being able to tell him what she had felt for so long now. But, of course, she had to be afraid, afraid of what his answer would be, his response to what she wanted to say to him. She paced the room, trying to push away the knowing feeling in her stomach that made her want to pull her hair out. That's when she saw it - the liquor cabinet. She smiled bitterly to herself. She slowly walked towards it, afraid that if she were to move any faster, her sensible side would come back. She kneeled down in front of it and opened the doors. She laughed again at how the people who throw these kinds of parties just left alcohol out in the open for anyone to take; well, not necessarily 'out in the open', but that was just a minor technicality that Rory saw past. She took out a bottle, not even bothering to look at the label to see what she got. "_Liquor's liquor, right?"_ she asked herself. She opened the bottled and took a big gulp. She started to cough loudly, violently, but she didn't care. She was so set against feeling the hurt that had come from earlier that she welcomed this different kind of pain. After her coughs subsided, she took another drink and another and another…

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Tristan was staring at the door. He hadn't taken his eyes of it for the past hour. She was still in there. He wanted to slap himself at how much he cared for Rory, how he would do anything for her.

He excused himself from the people who were talking to him, already forgetting every word that was said. He paused when he got to the door, trying to figure out if he should even go in. He shook his head, as if to try to get some reasonable thoughts into his mind. After he opened the door, he instantly wished that he never left her alone in the first place. "Rory, what are you doing?!" He grabbed the now-empty bottle from her hand and threw it behind him, not caring if it broke.

"Getting drunk, what else does it look like?" She pushed him away as best she could while trying to get up.

He paused, not liking the sight. "Why?"

She laughed bitterly, a laugh that she had come so accustomed to in the past 24 hours. "You," was all she said as she tried to get to the door.

His heart clenched at her response. It figures that he would be the one to make her do something so stupid, something that she wouldn't even consider doing if she had never met him. "Come on," he started while taking a hold of her arm, "I'll take you to my place."

She jerked her arm away aggressively, her body instantly slamming back against the door. "Like hell you will!"

"Rory," he started, trying to stay calm, "you're drunk. Do you really want to go home, only to have your mom see you like this?"

She was about to protest, but realized how right he was. Even though she was in emotional hell, there was no reason to drag her mom into such an ugly mess. "Fine."

He grabbed her arm once more, walking out the back way, avoiding all possibilities of any gossipers finding Rory in the state she was. Once they reached his car, he sat Rory down in the passenger seat and drove to his house.

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"Come on, Tristan…you know you want to." Rory waved the bottle of alcohol in front of his face.

After sitting Rory down on the couch in his living room, he went upstairs to his room to change. When he came back down, he saw that Rory had somehow found the liquor cabinet. "No, Rory," he said sternly, "I'm not going to drink, and neither should you." He tried to grab the bottle from her hand, but failed.

She smiled smugly at him. "Why not? Are you afraid of what you're going to do if you do take a drink?" She paused, a feeling of triumph flowing through her body as the look of uneasiness came across his face. "I knew you wouldn't be able to control yourself around me."

He looked at her with shock, almost with hatred. He snatched the bottle from her grasp, taking a long drink from it. _Damn pride._

She smiled again and grabbed another bottle. "That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

He looked at her again, eyes narrowed. He grabbed the bottle from her hands, drinking all he could. She knew he wouldn't be able to stop after he took just one sip. After he had finished half of the bottle, she pulled him up, leading him up the stairs to his room.

Once she shut the door, Tristan collapsed on the bed. "What are we doing up here, Rory?" he groaned while holding his hands up to his head.

"Well," she moved over to him, straddling him, as he tried unsuccessfully to get her off of him, "I thought it would be fun if we did this…" She moved down and started to kiss and suck at his neck.

"Rory, stop." His resolve quickly disappeared as he moaned at her actions.

"I don't think you want me to stop." With that said, she kissed his lips, attacking furiously as if that were the last moment she would ever be close to him. Their clothes were quickly shed as they found their way underneath the covers.


End file.
